Individual Details

Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Newcomer

(28 Apr 1827 - 30 Mar 1901)

Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Newcomer began work at age 16 at his father's wholesale grain and flour dealership: Newcomer & Stonebraker in Baltimore, Maryland. He also accompanied his dad on the latter's rounds as sheriff. At age 10, yes 10, Frank was sworn in as a deputy sheriff!

He bought his father's interest in the business at age 18. In 1862 he bought Mr. Stonebraker's interest and renamed the firm Newcomer & Company. He also helped found the Corn and Flour Exchange in 1853.

His charitable work included helping to incorporate the Maryland Institution for the Instruction of the Blind in Baltimore. Also, he aided the Orphans' Home in Hagerstown and endowed Hagerstown's Washington County Free Library.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln's administration offered Frank Newcomer the presidency of a proposed United States Bank in Baltimore. Frank declined in favor of continuing his private business. He served as a financial commissioner for Baltimore, Maryland from 1867 to 1869.

After the Civil War he owned interests in railroads in throuhout the South, eventually consolidated into the Atlantic Coast Line in 1900. In 1868 he became president of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company in Baltimore.

Although a member of the Christian Church (aka Disciples or Campellites), he attended the Lutheran Church to which his wife was a member.

In his later years he went blind from cataract. In March 1901 he suffered a stroke of apoplexy while at work. He died two days later.

Events

Birth28 Apr 1827Beaver Creek, Washington, MD
Marriage14 Nov 1848Amelia Louise Ehlen
Marriage9 Jan 1887Sidonia Ayers
Death30 Mar 1901Baltimore, Baltimore, MD

Families

SpouseAmelia Louise Ehlen (1828 - 1881)
ChildMary Louise Newcomer (1850 - )
ChildFrank Newcomer ( - )
ChildKate Newcomer ( - )
ChildHarriet "Hattie" Newcomer (1861 - 1942)
ChildNannie Newcomer ( - )
ChildWaldo Newcomer (1867 - 1934)
SpouseSidonia Ayers ( - 1898)
FatherJohn NEWCOMER Senior (1797 - 1861)
MotherCatharine Newcomer (1802 - 1883)
SiblingElizabeth Ann Newcomer (1824 - 1856)
SiblingJohn Henry Newcomer Junior (1829 - 1877)
SiblingAlexander Newcomer (1831 - 1903)
SiblingWilliam Martin Newcomer (1835 - 1911)
SiblingEllen Newcomer (1838 - 1905)
SiblingMary Newcomer (1841 - 1896)